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Melon Salad.—Melon is
sometimes served abroad as a salad, and a slice of melon is
often sent to table at the commencement of dinner, to be
eaten with a little salt, cayenne pepper, and sometimes oil
and vinegar.
Salads, Sweet.—Apples,
oranges, currants, pine-apple, and bananas are sometimes
served as salads with syrup and sugar. They make a very nice
mixture, or can be served separately. When preserved
pine-apples in tins are used for the purpose, the syrup in
the tin should be used for dressing the salad. Whole ripe
strawberries are a great improvement, as also a wineglassful
of brandy and a lump of ice.
Sandwiches.—There is an
art in cutting sandwiches—a fact which persons in the habit
of frequenting railway restaurants will hardly realise. A
tinned loaf is best for the purpose if we wish to avoid
waste. The great thing is to have the two slices of bread to
fit together neatly, and there is no occasion to cut off the
crusts when made from a well-rasped tin loaf. First cut off
the crust from the top of the loaf, which, of course, must
be used for some other purpose. The best use for this top
slice is to toast it lightly on the crumby side, and cut it
up into little pieces to be served with soup. Next take the
loaf, cut off one thin slice, evenly, and let it fall on its
back on the board you are using. Now butter very slightly
the upper surface. Next butter the top of the loaf, cut
another thin slice, and, of course, these two pieces of
bread will be perfectly level, and, if the two buttered
sides be placed together, will fit round the edge
exactly.
Tomato
Sandwiches.—Cut some very ripe red tomatoes into
thin slices, and cut them parallel with the core, as
otherwise you will get them in rings from which the core
will drop out. Sprinkle some thin slices of bread-and-butter
with mustard and cress, dip the slices of tomato into a
dressing made with a little oil, pepper, and salt, well
mixed up. Put these between the bread-and-butter, and cut
them into squares or triangles with a very sharp knife.
These sandwiches are very cool and refreshing, and make a
most agreeable supper after a hot and crowded ball-room. If
you wish to have them look pretty, pile them up in the
centre of a silver dish, and place a few ripe red tomatoes
round the base on some bright green parsley. Place the dish
in an ice-chest for an hour before it is eaten.
Mustard and Cress
Sandwiches.—Place well-washed and dried mustard and
cress between two slices of bread-and-butter, and trim the
edges. It is best to pepper and salt the bread-and-butter
first. Pile up the sandwiches on a silver dish, and sprinkle
some loose mustard and cress round the base.
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